I’m a Turkish American writer in the Twin Cities
McKnight
I’m proud to be a 2023-2024 McKnight Fellow in Creative Prose. Alexander Chee was the judge.
Best Small Fictions
Thrilled to have my short story, Scorpion, included in the Best Small Fictions, 2023 anthology.
You can read it here.
I’ve been writing for fun almost as long as I can remember. But it wasn’t until grad school — when my boyfriend suggested I contribute to the Daily Pennsylvanian — that I published for the first time.
After graduation came many years of freelancing. At first it was concert & album reviews.
Back then, I mostly wrote about Asian American, & British Asian artists for Rolling Stone India...
King Khan
Sub Swara
Big Sleep
...before branching out, considering art & culture more generally for the Guardian, Elle, & Vogue Turkiye, Condé Nast Traveler, & O, the Oprah magazine.
Eventually, in 2015, I started a blog, surprised to amass thousands of “followers” simply by writing about my life.
I talked about my parents, my girlhood, and my chakras; about working in a restaurant, & nearly getting expelled from a Saudi Arabian high school for starting an underground yearbook.
Since then, I’ve been pushing at the boundaries of the craft, trying to think bigger, to do better. Being recognized for my efforts has been a boon.
Here are some recent highlights:
Awards/fellowships
received
2019
Being part of a larger American literary & scholarship community is something I take seriously. To that end, I want to make sure I pay it forward...
Service
I’m a Penn Alumni Ambassador, Interviewing Applicants for the
State of MN
I’m Founding Editor of the BIPoC Literary Journal, the Hennepin Review
I’m One of the Readers for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards (MN)
I Volunteer as a Reader for the Literary Journal, Ploughshares
And last, but surely not least, here’s some work I’m pleased to share:
Thanks for visiting!